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Liberty Advocate http://www.libertyadvocate.com/
Victory Over Sin!
by
Karen Pansler-Lam, J.D.
Danny Wright gives his testimony about corruption in Jimmy Swaggart Ministries in "The Puppet Masters" @ Deception Bytes http://www.deceptionbytes.com/
But does Danny realize that his testimony reveals that his own heart is corrupt?
Like Jimmy Swaggart, Danny essentially denies the power of the Holy Spirit to give us victory over sin.
Shamefully, both men point the finger of blame at the Lord... the Lord is slack in sanctifying them.
Danny Wright was a student at Jimmy Swaggart's World Evangelism Bible College (WEBC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was kicked out of WEBC and fired from Jimmy Swaggart Ministries (JSM). Recently, he published @ Deception Bytes (http://www.deceptionbytes.com/) his testimony about the corruption at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. My response is too long to post in the site's comment box so I'm publishing it here. Let me discuss a few issues in Danny's testimony; not every issue will be addressed.
Basically,
in "The Puppet Masters" Danny denounces the School and the Swaggarts for "CONTROL
CONTROL CONTROL!"
Danny hated the dorm rules that every school must have in the
best interests of the academic community.
And students were not allowed to attend another church without
express permission from professors.
But Danny claims: "Confused, yet still very motivated, I brushed it all
aside and let the Lord take
control. (Key words: The LORD)."
However, as you will see, like Jimmy Swaggart, Danny talks in
circles and contradicts his own words.
His testimony will prove that he did not "let the Lord take
control. (Key words: The LORD)."
Then he writes:
Perfection is never attainable until glorification, so there were things
that I had been involved in, that the Lord was working out of me during
my time there. Things that you wouldn’t expect from many people there
who were involved in ministry, that
I personally had a hand in.
These were activities that had became common place by many people (who
still work there), and were dually noted by Gabe Swaggart himself in a
meeting I had with him, Loren Larson, and Bob Cornell where they decided
I was no longer allowed there, save church attendance and my tithe.
These “things” I’m referring to are partying, drinking,
pre-marital sex, and in some cases, (but not me personally), weed
smoking. The last incident I personally was
involved with. This was not long after I lost my mother in a house
fire, that wrecked me emotionally I might add.
Well, first Danny says: "Each day was a new day in the Lord, and I did strive to be like Him." Then he says: "Perfection is never attainable until glorification, so there were things that I had been involved in, that the Lord was working out of me during my time there. Things that you wouldn’t expect from many people there who were involved in ministry, that I personally had a hand in."
Now, how can you strive to be like Christ (as he stated earlier: "I did strive to be like Him") and at the same time be involved in "things”? Danny says: "These “things” I’m referring to are partying, drinking, pre-marital sex, and in some cases, (but not me personally), weed smoking." Well, he just said, "Things that you wouldn’t expect from many people there who were involved in ministry, that I personally had a hand in." And then he goes on to allege he was not personally involved in weed smoking "and in some cases, (but not me personally), weed smoking." And then he confesses: "The last incident I personally was involved with." What "last incident" is he talking about? The last thing he mentioned - "weed smoking"? And what were these other "cases" and how was he involved? His testimony is purposely vague and confusing and contradictory.
Next, Danny excuses his sin: "Only I didn’t actually host or plan the event, but was only invited to it." In other words, he rationalizes: I didn't actually host or plan the sinful event, but only accepted the invitation and participated in the sin. This sounds like Adam blaming Eve when God confronted him about eating the forbidden fruit: "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Adam blames his wife and also insinuates God was an accessory to his sin: God gave him the woman and she gave him the fruit.
The truth is true Christians do not accept invitations to sinful parties. They flee sin!
And Danny blames his sin on his mother's tragic death. Understandably, this was a difficult time, but for over 2000 years, Christians have suffered great tragedies but have not turned to sin for comfort! True Christians lean on Christ during trials and tribulations. To repeat, Danny alleged at the beginning of his testimony that he "let the Lord take control. (Key words: The LORD)." Control of what? So far, Danny's testimony doesn't show he gave the Lord control over anything; he admits he was living a life of sin.
Furthermore, anyone claiming "I had been called of God to preach since I was a young child" and is studying to be a preacher should know that we must never blame sin on our circumstances.
Granted, we may be tempted to sin; but we are not forced to sin. He writes: "I say these things with no excuses and have sincerely repented of them." On the contrary, he does give excuses for sinning: 1) “there were things that I had been involved in, that the Lord was working out of me during my time there"; 2) “I didn't actually host or plan the event, but was only invited to it" and 3) "I lost my mother in a house fire, that wrecked me emotionally I might add."
Frankly, like Jimmy Swaggart and Adam, Danny insinuates God was an accessory to his sin: "Don't blame me for my sin...blame my sin nature...and blame God because He gave me the sin nature." In other words, I sinned because “the Lord was helping me in my sanctification” but He wasn’t helping me enough. To put it another way, Danny is saying that if he sins, it’s the Lord’s fault because He’s supposed to be helping Danny in his sanctification; therefore, he's still sinning because the Lord is slack in sanctifying him. Shamefully, Danny points the finger of blame at the Lord.
Clearly, Danny denies his free will to flee temptation and sin. For example, Danny was tempted to go a sinful party, but he was not forced to go; just as Jimmy Swaggart was tempted to go a-whoring after pornography and prostitutes, but he was not forced to go.
True Christians flee temptation!
When we repent and give our hearts and minds and souls to the Lord - He reigns in our lives! The Spirit gives us victory over sin! We may be tempted to sin, but we are not forced to sin. The Spirit gives us the power to be overcomers! We are no longer slaves of sin; we are servants of righteousness. "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Romans 6:18).
And Danny writes:
I
accidently went to “see for myself” on a Thursday
night when a spiritual mentor
of mine invited me to go to Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge. They
were holding a church planting conference. I used to attend there years
ago, and since I am after all, in school to be a minister, I of course
wanted to go to a free conference on church planting.
Again, like Swaggart, he contradicts himself: first, he says he "accidently" [accidentally] went to "see for myself"; and then turns around and says, "I of course wanted to go."
And Danny condemns the Swaggarts for not being a community welfare center. I have to agree with the Swaggarts because turning churches into community centers is part of the plan for a one-world religion and one-world government. Danny is caught up in the apostate church's hype of humanitarian good works instead of repentance and salvation. Danny cites Matthew 25: 35 - 40 to support church welfare. However, in this passage, Christ is telling us to help our fellow Christians in their time of need. These Scriptures do not preach setting up permanent church or government welfare or redistribution of wealth. Paul explains to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 8:13:
For
I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality,
that now at
this time your
abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may
be a supply for your want: that there may be
equality.
And
Danny sanctions profaneness in the sanctuary (skits, flag teams, etc.) -
the spirit of the world, not the spirit of Christ.
Irrefutably, this is contrary to Scripture: "My house shall
be called the house of prayer"
(Matthew 21:13). Obviously, from his testimony of willful sin, he lacks wisdom
and knowledge of the Word and should not be leading others into apostate
worship. Clearly, he lacks
spiritual discernment.
Next, Danny tells about experiencing the moving of the Holy Spirit in apostate churches: By the way, this ‘evil ministry’ JSM paints them to be … had a great moving and operation of the Holy Spirit that I haven’t felt in a long time!
I broke solemnly in the front
row of a church at a youth rally as the Spirit of the Lord flooded the
sanctuary during a skit a youth group put together with “Oh How He Loves
Us” by Jesus Culture playing in the background.
I was completely engulfed in the presence of the Lord that night, and I wasn’t even at Family Worship Center!
Unfortunately,
many churchgoers cannot discern the moving of the spirit of the flesh
from the moving of the Holy Spirit.
For example, remember when there was a great move of the human
spirit over the crowd when Michael Jackson sang the humanitarian songs
“We are the World" and "Heal the World"?
A move of the spirit of the flesh/emotion is not the same as a
move of the Holy Spirit. We know that music stirs the emotions.
And we must never confuse the moving of the Holy Spirit with a
move of the human spirit. Besides
the Holy Spirit will never move in a crowd of hypocritical Christians
who are daily committing sin...unless they are in a humble state of
repentance.
Discerning
Christians know the modern apostate church has quenched the Holy Spirit and replaced it
with hype. The apostate
church uses the spirit of the world – fraudulent anointing – as a
gimmick to deceive us into believing it is a move of the Holy Spirit.
For example, the apostate church uses loud ranting and raving of songs
to work up the "audience" into ecstasy to purposely deceive
them into believing this is the moving of the Holy Spirit. Or, they use
meaningless and monotonous music so
the “audience” will be entranced by this boring singsong and feel
they are “in the Spirit.” Yes,
entrancing music puts you in the spirit…but what spirit?
The spirit of man or an evil spirit?
A hypnotic or ecstatic state is not a move of the Holy Spirit.
And the apostate church is bringing in occult powers that
counterfeit the power and work of the Holy Spirit.
Additionally, there are other issues in Danny's testimony, but they will not be addressed. The most important ones have been discussed.
In sum, Danny's testimony reveals the sad truth that the heart of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries is corrupt. But does Danny realize that his testimony also reveals that his own heart is corrupt? For like Jimmy Swaggart, Danny essentially denies the power of the Holy Spirit to give us victory over sin. Shamefully, both men point the finger of blame at the Lord...the Lord is slack in sanctifying them.
They both disobey the first and great commandment to love the Lord God with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their soul, and with all their strength (Mark 12:30).
If you wholeheartedly love the Lord God, you will hate sin!
And if you hate sin, you will flee temptation!
The
truth is if we humble ourselves in true repentance and wholly give our
hearts and minds and souls and strength to the Lord -
He reigns in our lives! The
Spirit gives us victory over sin! We
may be tempted to sin, but we are not forced to sin. The Spirit gives us the power to be overcomers!
We are no longer slaves of sin; we are servants of righteousness.
"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness" (Romans 6:18).
And Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11...
9
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
The
early Corinthian Christians were overcomers...”such were some of you:
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified”!
When
we are born again, we are sanctified and set apart as consecrated
vessels of the Holy Spirit. A few verses later, Paul
preaches to the Corinthians that we are not our own...we are bought with
a price...we are the temple
of the Holy Ghost…
19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
And Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:2: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." Matthew Henry comments:
(2.) They were elect through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The end and
last result of election is eternal life and salvation; but, before this
can be accomplished, every elect person must be sanctified by the Spirit, and justified by the blood of Jesus.
God’s decree for man’s
salvation always operates through sanctification of the Spirit and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. By sanctification here understand, not
a federal sanctification only, but a real one, begun in regeneration,
whereby we are renewed after the image of God and made new creatures,
and carried on in the daily exercise of holiness, mortifying our sins
more and more, and living to God in all the duties of a Christian life,
which is here summed up in one word, obedience, comprehending all
the duties of Christianity...He renews the mind, mortifies our sins (Rom.
8:13), and produces his excellent fruits in the hearts of
Christians, Gal.
5:22, 23. This sanctification of the Spirit implies the use of
means. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth, Jn.
17:17. Unto obedience. This word, as it is pointed in our
translation, is referred to what goes before it, and denotes the end of
sanctification, which is, to bring rebellious sinners to obedience
again, to universal obedience, to obey the truth and gospel of Christ: You
have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, v.
22.
True believers are obedient believers. And obedient believers are holy believers because God commands holiness: "Be ye therefore perfect" ( Matthew 5:48) and "Be ye holy" (1 Peter 1:16).
Irrefutably, disobedient believers aren't true Christians...they're hypocrites. There is no such thing as a disobedient, obedient believer. In other words, you cannot profess to be an obedient believer and at the same time disobey God's command against sin.
Jesus warns us that professing Christians who sin will not enter the kingdom of heaven, even if they do many wonderful works in His name: Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and
in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then I will profess unto them, I
never knew you; depart
from me, ye
that work iniquity. Matthew
7: 21 -23 Jesus
warns us that even if we do many wonderful works in His name, yet remain
unholy and unclean, we are not one of His: "And
then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that
work iniquity." Ye
must be born again. John
3:7 A
personal message for Danny…
Danny,
you can be free from the bondage of sin!
Let no false preacher deceive you!
My prayer for you, Danny, is that you get the victory over sin in your
life and go forth and preach the true Gospel. "Ye
must be born again." Go forth and preach the
pure Gospel, first to all the Swaggarts and JSM, and then to all
the world. Be
bold and preach that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us victory over
sin! He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. Rev.
3:5
Danny,
you claim "I had been called of God to preach since I was a
young child". If this is true, then be an overcomer and preach the good news to others that they can be
overcomers, too!
September
2011 Liberty
Advocate
http://www.libertyadvocate.com/ See
also: 1. My 5 part series about Jimmy Swaggart 2.
Reach Out! 3. Unclean!
Unclean! http://www.libertyadvocate.com/tidings3.htm 4.
Deliverance 5.
Wake Up, Evangelicals! 6. Rebuilding the Tower
of Babel
http://www.libertyadvocate.com/Rebuilding%20the%20Tower%20of%20Babel.htm
http://www.libertyadvocate.com/Enemies%20of%20the%20Cross%20of%20Christ.htm 8. The Lazy Poor
in America 9.
Be Ye Holy 10. No
Reverence in God's House http://www.libertyadvocate.com/Reverence.htm
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